Quick review Pride 6/21/15

[tutzig]

There have been plenty of lengthy reviews on the Pride, so I am gonna give a quick one on our experiences. Won the cruise, so only had to pay the taxes and gratuity. We picked the Pride cause we live 10 minutes from the port and liked this itinerary rather than the Port Canaveral and Bahamas.

 

Received the email/Phone call to delay going to the port until 2, so we left the house after 2. Was at the port around 230 and had the easiest non stress Embarkation!

 

We had a O/V room on deck one, mid ship. It was a convenient location. I initially was concerned about being close to the elevators, but had zero issues!

 

We had a great time! It was a relaxation trip and we got to relax.

 

Grand Turk: We looked into reserving a Golf Cart ahead of time, but decided to wait till we got off of the ship. Walked through the shops, saw one of the port security officers, inquired and she sent us over to a guy near the shops. Got a Golf Cart for $60 and asked to put $5 in gas when we were done. We have never been to Grand Turk and enjoyed exploring. Went looking for a gas station, saw the guy that rented it to us, he led us to gas station and returned it, no issues. When we went to return to the ship, saw a long line for the Pride. I knew from reading on here, to take a seat in a longer and allow the line to go down, we did just that and pretty much walked right on.

 

Half Moon Cay- Got a Clamshell, got a cooler of beer, and enjoyed the provided lunch!

 

Freeport- We didn't do much. Got off, walked around the shops, purchased something from Fat Tuesdays and used their Wifi to check emails. Went back to the ship, found a spot in Serenity and heard the call for 4 guests. Being a past cruiser, I know that call, so went to the side and watched as 4 people were running through the port to catch the ship. They made it.

 

We loved the Steakhouse, was the highlight of the meals!

 

They had trivia and contest each evening around different areas of the ship. The most popular one we saw, was the 80'S music trivia in the atrium.. It was cool to see that many people hanging around and participating.

 

We enjoyed the Piano Bar. The musician was Chris, and it was his first cruise. Could see the nerves, and had to deal with some patrons.. But he handled it well. He needs to work on his variety, especially for different nights, but was amazed at ability to play and know so many different genres. (On a side note, not used to being at a bar later in the evening, and people having their kids sit at the bar.)

 

Some of the issues/things we noticed were:

 

Our first time with "Your Time Dining" on Carnival and am not a fan. We ended up waiting in line no matter what time we decided to go to dinner. Several nights were over 30 minutes. One night we waited 30 minutes just to get a pager and an additional 30 minutes after we got the pager. I understand it is capacity controlled, and they cant control when people show up, just not a fan of waiting an hour to eat dinner on a cruise. Live and learn and will not pick "Your Time" on carnival again.

 

The comedy club. We loved going to the comedy club, we did not like they way that someone watching the last PG rated show, gets penalized for the next show. After the 8:30 show, the make everyone clear the club and go wait in a line to get back in. Each night, when you left the show, the line snaked all the way to the Casino, so you were waiting in a smoke filled room. The one night, we ended up in a seat that was blocked by a pole. I saw one of the Asst CD's, and mentioned my displeasure to him. He totally brushed me off, like he could care less, and made a smirk comment about, well everyone in line made it into the show.

 

We had a bad waiter in the main dining room one night. I asked 3 times for some lemonade, and they kept forgetting. The last time I asked, the server told me that they couldn't give me a lemonade, because they had no clean glasses, and no one to wash a dish. She also was off with the service of appetizers/salads/entrees. We both got salad etc.. But they were placed 5 minutes off etc.. I did speak with the Maitre D, and he followed up the next night we were in the Dining Room and made sure everything was better, and that he had addressed the issue.

 

Wished that there were more shady areas on the ship to lay in a lounge chair/read a book. When we did find a empty chair, it was in the smoking area.

 

We really enjoyed the Serenity area, there was a guy that really made an attempt to keep it clean and everything in order. One day I went to get 2 towels and he told me to go relax and brought over 2 towels. I made sure to let guest services know how he did a good job. Was their seat saving? Yeah.. But I did hear that they were removing stuff from chairs at one point. The Clamshells in the Serenity were the hardest to get, even went up one morning right before breakfast, and they were already taken.

 

We were one of the last areas to debark, and was off of the ship around 1030.

 

All in all we had a great time!

[Piper934]

Do you recall what time the first groups were able to get off on the last day?

[tutzig]

I didn't really pay attention. By my recollection self assist took a long time. Once they started with the group numbers it started to flow.. Maybe a little after 9..

 

 

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[cosaraquis1]

What time did you usually go for dinner?

[tutzig]

We went as early as 6 and the latest was 715

 

 

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[Barbluvstocruz]

Do you recall what time the first groups were able to get off on the last day?

 

The sailing prior we did self-assist and got off the ship about 9:15.

[Barbluvstocruz]

Thanks for the review!! We were on the sailing before you and we are going back on Aug 9th. We had early dining last time, but ended up with YTD this time. I'm not looking forward to a wait in line for dinner, but we also didn't want late dining. We may hit the buffet for dinner a few nights.

:)

[rrraydon]

Thanks for the review! :)

[ZooTycoon223]

Was on this sailing with my family. First time on the Pride, which is, as of right now, my favorite ship I've been on.

 

Don't know if you saw the welcome aboard show, but I was the woodsman in the plaid shirt.